Hugh Downs

            On Tuesday morning I published “Au revoir mon enfance” by Boris Vian and my translation “Goodbye to Childhood” on my Christian’s Translations blog. I posted my translation on my Boris Vian fan page and on my personal Facebook page. The next song on my Vian list is “Ballade de la chnoufe” (Ballad of the Snuff as in the kinds of drugs one snorts). I already had part of the first verse but was able to find all the lyrics and there’s also a YouTube file with the music, so I can start learning the song tomorrow. 

            I published my photo video of the song “Le rent' dedans” (The Pick-Up) by Serge Gainsbourg in Movie Maker and then uploaded it to YouTube. Then I uploaded the text to my Christian’s Translations blog and started preparing it for publication. I’ll probably have it finished tomorrow. 

            I weighed 88.9 kilos before breakfast. 

            I played my Kramer electric during song practice. For the first half it went out of tune every other song but behaved better during the second half. 

            Around midday I finished applying the first coat of colour to my bathroom walls and about half of the second coat. I’m not sure if it will need a third coat but I have plenty of paint to do so. It looks really good though. It was weird before with the primer still on the bottom and the top painted. It actually made it look darker but now it looks seems bright and delicious. The wall looks like it has vitamins. 

            I weighed 88.85 kilos at 14:25. 

            I took a siesta at 15:00 and got up at 16:30. It was too late for a bike ride and on top of that it was raining but I needed grapes and toilet paper so I rode to Freshco. I got five bags of red grapes and price matched them with the No Frills price of $6.59 a kilo. I also got a pack of toilet paper and a pack of raspberries. 

            I weighed 89.5 kilos at 18:00, which is the heaviest I’ve been in the evening since November 16.

            I was caught up in my journal at 19:04. 

            I reviewed the next cassette tape on the pile and this one was probably the first performance of Christian and the Lions with Brian Haddon on recorder as the Lions. I broke a string and Brian had to improvise for about five minutes while I changed it. I told the audience that we had been practicing earlier in front of the Royal Conservatory of Music. I said they make a lot of noise in there and they’re gonna get theirselves evicted. I digitized it with my convertor but I really have to try to get some cleaner copies, perhaps when I figure out how to hook up my Sony Dolby tape player to the computer.

            In my “2024-09-09 Song Practice” Movie Maker project I cut out all the songs before “Laisses-en un peu pour les autres” but still haven’t found the final take. 

            I had a potato with gravy and a slice of peameal bacon while watching season 1, episode 11 of Car 54 Where Are You? 

            Officer Charlie Fleischer is always telling jokes in the locker room but only Toody thinks he’s hilarious. He says he calls his girl his melancholy baby because she has a head like a melon and a face like a collie. Later Toody and Muldoon pull over for speeding Hugh Downs, the announcer for the Jack Paar Show. Toody learns that Paar is away and Downs will be hosting this week. Toody calls for assistance from car 126 so Charlie can audition for Downs. Downs is not impressed but then has the idea that having a joke telling New York cop on the show could be a novelty. Toody becomes Charlie’s manager and they are so sure that Charlie will be a success that they’ve written their resignations from the police force. But when Charlie walks out and sees the crowd he literally freezes. Toody comes out to try to get Charlie to snap out of it. He tells one of Charlie’s jokes to demonstrate how good they are and the audience loves it. Now Toody has the stand-up bug, tells all the jokes, is a big hit and everybody on the force is proud of him. Charlie has no problem being the manager rather than the star. But then Downs calls and Charlie freezes on the phone. Muldoon takes over and becomes Toody’s manager. Downs asks Toody to come on the show again and the same thing happens. Toody freezes and Muldoon comes out to help him, ending up telling his jokes and becoming a hit. That’s the end. 

            Hugh Downs played himself. he became a radio announcer in 1939. He announced for Destination Freedom from 1948 until 1950. In 1950 he became the announcer for Hawkins Falls, the first television soap opera. He was the co-pilot on Uncle Ned’s Squadron in 1951. He got his start on television in 1945 when he still had yet to even watch a television. In 1949 he became the host of Kukla, Fran and Ollie. From 1954 to 1957 he announced for The Home Show. From 1956 to 1957 he announced for Caesar’s Hour. He was the announcer and sidekick for Tonight Starring Jack Paar from 1957 to 1962. He hosted the game show Concentration from 1958 to 1969. He co-hosted Today from 1962 to 1971. He was the host of Over Easy. He anchored 20/20 from 1978 to 1999 (On his last show he declared that marijuana should be legalized). He hosted Live From Lincoln Centre from 1990 to 1996. He held the Guinness World Record for most hours on network commercial television until Regis Philbin broke it. He had a post-Masters degree in Gerontology. He was a special consultant to the UN on refugee problems from 1961 to 1964. He was Chairman of the Board for the US Committee for UNICEF. He had several pilot licenses.